Agile Definition of Done Starter Kit

I often find it amusing when the definition of ‘done’ in Agile is sometimes called ‘done-done’. This is meant to imply that we are not just done with development (the 1st done), but we are done with testing (the 2nd done) as well. However, if you think about all of the activities that are needed to get stories in a sprint backlog into the shape to be potentially shippable, you should probably call it “done-done-done-done” and possibly more (LOL).

So what is the importance of done criteria? First as mentioned, it helps the team understand what is the expectation of getting a story (or the functionality therein) into shape to be potentially shippable. Second, it helps identify the activities and expectations that must occur to build a quality product. Third, all activities in the done criteria are considered when the team sizes the work during Sprint Planning and, therefore, has a direct impact on the sizing of stories. When the team sizes a story, they need to ensure it includes all of the work described in the team’s "done criteria".
 
I usually bring a starter kit of typical tasks to get a story to "done". This helps initiate an active discussion prior to sprint 1 among the team so that each team member understands the various elements of the done criteria and what elements we are agreeing too as a team. Here is my done criteria (aka, definition of done) starter kit:

• Incremental designing (and what type of design type(s) the team will use)
• Incremental development (per the development programming techniques, and this includes developing documentation such as user guides and non-functional requirements associated with the story)
• Incremental building/evolving the unit tests
• Consideration for incrementally building out automation for regression testing, etc
• Applying appropriate source control, checkout/checkin, and branching/merging
• Applying approach incremental local builds (in private workspace)
• Applying code review (or pair programming if being applied) as appropriate
• Incremental testing (per the testing types, e.g., functional, system, integration, etc., pending how much automation there is)
• Meeting acceptance criteria shared by the Product Owner

At this point, the team discusses these elements and establishes a common definition of done for the stories and the sprint. Now keep in mind that this is the team’s common done criteria and it should be flexible depending on the type of work. Also, once the team agrees to done criteria, expect it to evolve over time and it may be a discussion in the Retrospective if it needs improvement. Some of the effort associated with your definition of done is dependent on what tools, infrastructure, and automation, that currently exists and where you want to go, so keep this in mind.

Finally, if your definition of done has nine key activities, then you can call it the “done-done-done-done-done-done-done-done-done” criteria (LOL).  Maybe just one "Done" is enough.  Once you establish the done criteria for the team, don’t forget to evolve it over time to get you to a quality and releasable product!  

Holistic view of Continuous Integration & Build (Bite-size Stories) – Part 4 of 9

In the last episode (e.g., Part 3 of 9) of this series, I introduced the importance of the Agile and CM mindset.  One of the key elements in CIB involves an Agile and CM mindset change to think more continuously.  For Continuous Integration and Build to work effectively it is also important to ensure we are breaking down the work into bite-size stories and/or tasks to ensure we can have a potentially shippable increment.  Let’s examine this in more detail. 

In order to do continuous integration, you need to have the work broken-down into a size of work where you can integrate and build frequently.  The ability to specify the right ‘‘bite-size’’ level of story represents change that allow for granular and frequent code changes. This implies that the Agile team has the skills to understand the stories well enough in order to effectively break them down into small and consumable chunks.  This allows the team to make codes changes frequently and incrementally. 

But what are some techniques that help you break down work into bite-size stories? Here are a few ideas:

• Phrase your stories following the Canonical form.  A canonical form for a story is expressed as "As a I want to a so that ". This allows work to be segmented into actor, action, and benefit which helps in breaking down the work.

• Utilize the INVEST approach which stands for making a story Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small, and Testable (established by Bill Wake). This approach helps us split larger stories or work into smaller bite-sized stories. Here are more details:

• I - Independent can stand on its own and could be demo’able
• N - Negotiable indicates that stories are negotiable and can be adjusted
• V- Valuable to the users and customer
• E- Estimable so that the stories can be sized
• S – Small enough to be bite-sized
• T – Testable so they can be verified and validated to work as written.

• Utilize the Use Case method that helps you break down work into functional steps. Each step should produce a piece of functionality. By using this approach, it provides you a basis for reviewing and determining the value of the functionality from each use case step in the flow. This then allows you to establish a more bite-sized approach to the work using a value and/or priority approach.

As you move to Continuous Integration and Build, your team must have the skills to chunk out the work into bite-sized pieces, in this case into stories that can be done within half the size of a sprint.  This makes continuous integration and build meaningful and allows for more frequent merging and building of the work.  Stay tuned for the next episode where we will focus on the Right-sizing your Branching and what this means in a Continuous Integration and Build process.

Note: If you started with this entry (Part 4), consider reading the first 3 earlier blog entries in this series.

• Holistic view of Continuous Integration & Build – Part 1 of 9
• Holistic view of Continuous Integration & Build (Elements of CIB) – Part 2 of 9
• Holistic view of Continuous Integration & Build (Agile and CM Mindset) – Part 3 of 9

Note: consider reading Adapting Configuration Management for Agile Teams, consider by Mario E. Moreira Wiley Publishing, 2010 for more information on this topic.